This drawing shows what a proposed on-campus stadium at Colorado State University might look like. / Courtesy of Colorado State University

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Colorado State University head football coach Jim McElwain leads his team during an April 12 public football practice for Denver-area fans at Infinity Park in Glendale. / Dawn Madura/Coloradoan library

Stadium update

What it is

Colorado State University has proposed building a $246 million, 43,000-seat on-campus football stadium north of Lake Street. CSU President Tony Frank and the university system’s governing board approved plans for the new facility in mid-October. The project ignited an “athletics versus academics” debate, and remains fiercely opposed by the group Save Our Stadium Hughes. Some, including Frank and Athletics Director Jack Graham, believe an on-campus stadium could be the cornerstone of a growing campus, energizing alumni, students and community members alike. SOSH members think CSU should reinvigorate the existing Hughes Stadium. What's happening

The current stadium financing plan calls for no use of state funds, taxes or tuition dollars. Half the money — $125 million — must come through private donors. CSU has launched a two-year fundraising endeavor that’s success will determine whether the university should put shovels in the ground. The campaign has been in a “quiet phase” for several months, as CSU cultivates donors and looks at potential corporate sponsors and stadium naming rights deals. University spokesman Mike Hooker has more than once declined to say how many people or companies CSU had contacted, or how much money has been raised thus far. “In terms of specific numbers or money given, we aren’t ready to release that yet,” he previously told the Coloradoan. Under state law, CSU isn’t required to make that information public. What's next

Eventually, but Hooker couldn’t say when, the campaign will become more public. While specifics are not yet concrete, he said it will likely include an advertising push, outreach to inform people of how they could donate, and an online presence. Stadium opponents plan to speak out against the stadium at a CSU System Board of Governors meeting being held Thursday and Friday at the Fort Collins campus.

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As Colorado State University sets out to build what would be its most expensive piece of campus real estate, Rams football players and coaches say the university push to raise millions of dollars for a new stadium hasn’t heaped added pressure on their expectations for the coming season.

The Rams will play the entirety of the 2013 season and part of the following campaign before October 2014, the deadline CSU President Tony Frank set for the university to raise half of the proposed on-campus stadium’s $246 million cost for consideration of construction to go forward. During that time, opponents of the proposal say CSU must put a winning product on the field in order to justify building a larger replacement for Hughes Stadium.

Others don’t put much stock in the chicken-or-egg debate of using the team’s level of success, or lackthereof, as bellwether for the need for a new stadium.

“I don’t know the last time I thought about the stadium,” senior linebacker Shaquil Barrett told the Coloradoan days prior to CSU’s April 20 spring game. “So there’s no extra pressure.”

Barrett’s thinking was in line with that of junior quarterback Garrett Grayson, who believes a stadium, if built, would “do wonders” for boosting campus energy and attracting recruits looking for “big-name brands, the big stadiums, lots of fans.”

“Obviously, winning’s going to help, but I don’t think there’s any pressure on us,” he said. “We’re just trying to get out there, get this next season started, get it off on the right foot.”

Back in October, the CSU System Board of Governors conditionally approved construction of the proposed 43,000-seat stadium. Board members bet on “the jockey” in Frank, who backed the project only if CSU could raise at least $125 million by October 2014.

Frank wrote in his announcement about the stadium, “I doubt it will magically make our players faster or stronger.” But should the on-campus stadium transcend its place on a changing campus to become a means to draw the community together, as Athletics Director Jack Graham and others believe, coupling it with a high-performing team could represent a step forward for CSU athletics.

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“If we are able to pair successful teams with a new facility, I think the opportunity exists to not simply cover debt service and even controlled maintenance, but perhaps to provide some modest level of funding to athletics so as to limit the need for increased university subsidies,” Frank wrote.

The stadium fundraising campaign has been in a quiet phase for several months, during which CSU has scouted potential corporate sponsors and stadium naming rights deals. The university is also working to woo private donors, the likes of which may write fat checks to fund design, construction or operation of the proposed facility.

But are donors sizing the Rams up as they come off a 4-8 season in coach Jim McElwain’s first year, hoping for a few more wins before they put pen to check?

“It seems likely that smart donors would be looking for a winning team, or at least evidence of a vibrant tradition, before they would open their checkbooks,” SOSH member and self-described regular CSU donor Tom Linnell wrote in an email to the Coloradoan.

While Hughes Stadium often filled when former coach Sonny Lubick took the Rams to six bowl appearances between 1999 and 2005, attendance at the 44-year-old facility has dipped considerably in recent years. Low attendance, coupled with a plethora of Front Range sporting opportunities, equals a “poor place to promote a football tradition,” Linnell said.

Jay Leeuwenburg, a former NFL player and football analyst with the MountainWest Sports Network, agreed, saying, “The only problem I have (with building the stadium) is they don’t fill up the stadium they have. If it is about location to campus then I agree. If it is about a bigger stadium no,” the third-grade teacher wrote in an email to the Coloradoan.

Leeuwenburg believes McElwain, “wants to win and has won. He is not motivated any more because of the stadium.”

Taking a break from meetings with players Thursday afternoon, McElwain said he doesn’t get caught up in figuring out where an on-campus stadium plays into building CSU’s football program “because my focus is getting this team better today.” As part of the job he views as more of a “calling,” he said he’s focused on improving the lives of his players.

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And while the stadium doesn’t mean extra pressure in his life, it continues to be a topic of interest in his circles.

The stadium “absolutely” comes up in talks with recruits, McElwain said, stressing, however, the stadium would play a “minor” role in the life of the football program as compared to its potential transformative abilities for the CSU campus. He tells recruits it “isn’t about the new stadium” but “excellence in all things we do” at CSU, from the academics to the athletics.

When asked whether he’s felt pressured by donors looking for return on investment in the team’s performance, the first-year coach responded: “No one’s said, ‘Hey, Coach Mac, if you don’t do this, I won’t do that.’”

SOSH leader Bob Vangermeersch maintains CSU’s investment in a stadium could mean economic disaster for the university and its stakeholders. While Frank promised no student tuition or taxpayer dollars would be used to fund the stadium, Vangermeersch and others don’t see how the university could avoid financing large sums of debt for its construction.

He is among those who believe CSU, just as a businessman weighs need of a new factory to produce widgets, needs a solid and proven product to justify a new facility.

“For me, you need that football team to be successful and you need them to pull them into the seats,” he said.

Similar to a number of people who commented on the Coloradoan’s Facebook page, University of South Dakota football coach Joe Glenn said, “I think you build it,” when discussing the chicken-or-the-egg debate.

“I think it just belongs on campus, if at all possible,” the former MountainWest Sports Network football analyst said, drawing on a gut feeling. “That’s just the way collegiate (football) is.”

“How many other events can bring 50,000 people to campus other than an athletic event?” he said, musing over memories of football games past that brought people together under the changing leaves of autumn to tailgate, listen to the marching band and cheer on the home team. All on campus.

Coloradoan Educational Issues reporter Madeline Novey can be reached at (970) 416-3955 or on twitter at @MadelineNovey.